slc results

Congratulations to all members of the Rato Bangala Family for the excellent results in SLC. Th is year, out of the 56 students who sat for the exam, 33 passed with distinction and 23 with high fi rst divisions. Th e average percentage for the class was a very impressive 82 per cent. Credit goes to our dedicated staff members, supportive parents, and of course the students who worked so well.

a level orientation

We welcomed our SLC graduates to the A Level program on 16 June together with a group of new students. We spent the fi rst week on orientation which consisted of teambuilding activities, presentations related to the A Level program by teachers and senior students, art, music, dance, theatre and a hiking trip. We believe that the week-long orientation has helped students get to know each other better and understand the expectations of the A Level programme at RBS.

adventurous journeys

Two groups of A Level students completed their adventurous journeys to qualify for the Duke of Edinburgh’s trip. On the fi rst day, both groups hiked up Phulchowki and on the second day they hiked to Lakuri Bhanjyang and Godavari from Kot Danda. Five A Level students completed their qualifying journey while the Unit 2 group completed their prequalifying trip. RBS is working with Th e Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to take the award to several government schools as well.

ban plastic bags, save nepal

In the spirit of World Environment Day, RBS decided to focus more on action rather than awareness alone and show concrete results of our environmental policy. Th e campaign to boycott plastic bags got the title Ban Plastic Bags, Save Nepal. Members of RBS family pledged to ban plastic bags and use cloth bags for shopping. Th e school made cloth bags and sold them. Many projects

and work related to this campaign were carried out and are ongoing.

environmental archaeological trip

Th e students of Grades VI-X visited Balkhu for what we called an archaeological trip to get fi rst-hand knowledge of the plight of the city. Th ey walked near the dumping sites and experienced the consequences of using plastic bags. We thank Ms Donatella Lorch for leading these trips.Th e students have written letters to various public fi gures and government and non government organisations asking them to support our eff ort to ban plastic bags.

environment week

Environment Week was celebrated with a commitment to work for the environment each day of the year. We celebrated World Environment Day on 5 June by taking part in various activities. Th e day began by beating drums made from waste material. From sorting bio-degradable and

RATO BANGALA SAMACHAR

july 2014

Grade VI labels plants in the school compound Football fever

non-biodegradable waste in Grades I and II, the entire school was engaged in myriad activities such as studying the pollution of the Bagmati River, learning about environmental issues of Nepal, visiting an eco-fair, recycling paper and waste material, fl ash mob, photo competition, mural painting, songs, poems, skits and so on. Th e annual non-uniform day was celebrated and the funds raised were used to buy books for Pingal Library and to assist Meme Cap Library, established by volunteer teachers to help a school in Tipling.

eco-friendly schools

RBS partnered with Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre and conducted a training session for school principals on 29 June at Rato Bangala School. Th e day-long event consisted of a fi eld trip and a workshop where 94 school heads made plans on how to transform their schools into eco-friendly institutions. Th e workshop was facilitated by Ms Shanta and Ms Milan Dixit at the request of Dr Sumitra Amatya, executive director of Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre. Th e closing ceremony was hosted by Dr Amatya and included Secretary of Urban Development Mr Kishore Th apa and Under Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Aff airs and Local Development Mr Chakrapani Sharma as guest speakers.

cleaning the un park

On 2 June, students and teachers of Grades VI and up went to clean the UN Park. It was indeed a rewarding experience. Th e students of Grade VIII are cleaning UN Park as part of their Community Service every Th ursday morning.

dr jane goodall’s visit

On 27 June, RBS was honoured to have the famous primatologist, Dr Jane Goodall, visit our school. Th e program began with the song Kapada Ko Jhola by Grade III. Th is song, written by Ms Bandana Aryal, has become an environment day regular at RBS. Th ree schools, Ullens School, Sri Mangal Deep School and RBS presented their environmental programs which were highly appreciated by our special guest. Dr Goodall gave an inspiring talk and interacted with students of Grades V and X from RBS and other schools in the Kamalmani Th eatre. Th e students were thrilled to hear about her trailblazing work with chimpanzees. Th e students were also introduced to Roots & Shoots, an organisation founded in 1991 by Dr Goodall in Tanzania with a group of students which works to promote harmony between people, animals, and the environment. She suggested that students who are interested in working on protecting the

environment become members of Roots and Shoots.

pta/pr

A get-together was organised for out-going and incoming PTA representatives and parent representatives on 24 June, 2014. We look forward to the parent representatives coordinating meetings and facilitating activities for the grades they represent. Th ank you parent representatives for contributing your valuable time to support the school.

pta representatives

We would like to welcome new PTA members Mr Khemraj Shrestha and Ms Shivani Dixit Adhikari and thank out-going PTA representatives Mr Kiran Krishna Shrestha and Ms Leena Satyal for their dedicated contribution and advice during their term as PTA representatives, particularly when our school bus was set on fi re.

pta representatives for2014-2015

• Bibhu Pradhan Joshi• Bolaram Pandey• Hari Kumar Silwal• Khemraj Shrestha• Milan Dixit• Nabha Basnyat Th apa• Pema Lama

World Environment Day dance by Grade X Cleaning the UN Park

• Shivani D Adhikari• Sunil Man Shakya • Rekha Pandey• Shanta Dixit

assemblies in term 1

Grades V, VI, and VIII A completed their class assemblies this term. Th e shows were meaningful and enjoyed by all present. Plays, dances, songs, and poems were performed with great enthusiasm and confi dence by the students. Th e plays that the students performed ranged from Greek and Nepali tragedies to humorous plays in Nepali and English. Grade VIII performed Muna Madan in Nepali and Aladdin and the Magic Plan. Grade VI performed the Greek play Electra and JungaliBwanso in Nepali and Prometheus Bound and King Chicken in English. Grade V performed Charlotte’s Web, Jack and the Bean Stalk, and Nilo Phool Ko Kimbadanti. Th e hard work and creativity of the teachers and students were demonstrated and appreciated by all.

nepali poetry recitation

On 13 June, the Nepali Department of RBS organised a valley-wide inter-school poetry recitation in chhanda to celebrate Bhanu Jayanti. Shawarna Gautam, Arjun Singh Anthak, Saisa Joshi, Kelsang Shrestha, and Karuna Gauchan participated as non-

competing participants from RBS. Th e winners in the recitation contest were as follows: First Position: Sirjan Silwal from Ujjwal Bidhya Bikash Higher Secondary School, Second: Alisha Aryal from Adarsha Vidya Mandir, Th ird: Samyog Yogi from Pathshala Nepal Foundation.

Two special prizes were also given away on the occasion: Bidya Puraskar was awarded for inter-school essay competition in Nepali to Prashant Bhandari, Grade X from Pathshala Nepal Foundation and Kedar Paritoshik was awarded to the student who secured the highest mark in Nepali in SLC in the country. Ramesh Gurung of Global Collegiate Higher Secondary School, Kaski, received the Kedar Paritoshik with a score of 93 in Nepali.

sports

Many inter-house tournaments were held in Term 1. Unit 1 held lawn tennis, dodgeball, kickball, and hopping catching competitions. Unit 2 held kickball and basketball competitions for Grades VI, VII and VIII. In lawn tennis the winners for Grade VA were Abhiraj B Malla First (Blue), Rajwat Singh Second (Orange), Arya Raj Khadka Th ird (Yellow) in the boys’ tournament and Evita Joshi First (Green), Lavana Dixit Second (Orange), Urja Shrestha Th ird (Green) in the girls’ tournament. For Grade VB, Prasarya

J Karki First (Green), Pritish Raj Second (Blue), Manas Gorkhali Th ird (Orange) were the winners from the boys and Pragati Khadka First (Blue), Annanya Khetan Second (Orange), Savarna Gautam Th ird (Blue) from the girls’ tournament.

guest speakers

We thank all our guest speakers for giving us their time to talk to the students despite their busy schedules. Th e traffi c police visited Grade II on 30 May to share information about traffi c rules. Th is informative program certainly helped our students to learn more about road safety. Grade II enjoyed the talk by Dr Manan Bhattarai who gave a talk on fi rst as part of the Social Studies unit on safety. Ms Shristi Silwal from the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition Nepal (ISET) gave a useful talk to the students of Grade IV on environmental issues related to their study of the River Bagmati.

junior open tennis championship

Students were invited to participate in Boris Lissanevitch Junior Open Tennis Championship held from 23-28 June. We congratulate all participants for their eff ort. We congratulate Sakchham Karki (First), Abhaya Gauchan (Second), Aabhaas Bahadur Malla (Th ird) for the under

Dr Jane Goodall’s visitTh aru painting by Grade V

16 boys games. And Karuna Gauchan (Second) for the under-16 girls game and Utsavi Joshi for the under 14 girls game (Second). In the Doubles open, we congratulate Aabhaas B Malla and Sakchham Karki (Second), Aryan Maskey, Alukik N Pan (Th ird) and Karuna Gauchan (Th ird).

miscellaneous activities

• On 11 June, Grade X organised a debate in the school auditorium. Th e topic was ‘deforestation to create agricultural land is justifi ed’. Th e participants exhibited excellent debating skills.

• English poetry recitation competition was held for Unit 2 on 13 June. While Grades VI and VIII focused on reciting poems written by famous poets, the students of Grade IX recited their own slam poetry and delivered speeches made by famous personalities.

• On 20 June, Grades VII to Grade X students participated in the

English Short Story Competition. • A Level students participated in

the Math Olympiad organized by Budhanilkantha School on 19 July 2014. First Position in Individual Round was secured by Pranav Shrestha, Team 1 which consisted of Ashnav Lal, Gaurav Pathak, Aasim Ansari and Pranav Shrestha secured the third highest marks in the competition.

staff development

RBS teachers continue to have staff development sessions on alternate Sundays as well as those scheduled on week days as part of the school’s continuous staff development plan. In addition, they take part in trainings outside of school. • On 2 June, Reena Chand and

Swastika Basnet attended the Cambridge Learner Workshop in Science at the British Council.

• On 7 June, Bhagwan Jha, Indu Lama, and Pratigya Shrestha attended the Training for

Secondary Level Mathematics Teachers at Kathmandu University.

• On 27 June, fi ve teachers from Grades I and II, Kiran Rana, Kiran Khadka, Shilpa Rimal, Rochana Ghimire, and Sheelu Karmacharya attended the training Phonics to Reading conducted by KISC-Equip.

calling for parents’ participation

RBS is organising a two-day children’s literature festival (March, 2015) that will be open to the public. As we have started planning for this important event, we will need the support of the parents to make it a grand success. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, sponsoring visits by international authors, helping fi nd sponsors, volunteering or want to send us ideas, suggestions, and contacts, please write to Monita Gurung (monita@ratobangala.edu.np).

Grade IV constructs Machhendranath chariots